A True Story – Removing a Baked on Decal off a SUV

A True Story – Removing a Baked on Decal off a SUV

Recently I had a phone call and the chap calling said. “I have just purchased a four wheel drive that has been in the outback for twelve years and it has some vinyl lettering on it but no matter what I do I can’t get it off.” He was local so I told him to bring the car around to our store. He arrived shortly and told me the full story.

He wanted a cheap vehicle and this one had been used by a mining company in the Australian Outback. Now the Australian Outback can be a very hot place, lots of desert, very little water and summer temperatures of exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit each day.

The vehicle had vinyl lettering with the name of the company and other details when it was new but after 12 years of life in the desert heat it was literally baked on. He had been to several different sign companies to have it removed but although they all tried with different methods nothing could be done. It had more or less fused onto the paint work and was so far gone the vinyl had shrunk and cracked. It was so heavily baked on that even a plastic razor blade could not lit a corner.

I put a wonder wheel into the chuck of a power drill and was about to start when he asked if the wheel would damage the paint work and I replied that if you kept the wheel moving over the surface, not stopped in one spot the paint work would should not be damaged.

Within a minute the first letter was removed without damage to the paintwork. Our customer was amazed, “I never thought I would get rid of all that lettering!” Boy! Was he happy! It had been a friend who had told him of our product and he left our store with a smile from ear to ear!